Six Month Connection
by SomethingMoreCreative
Summary: Annabeth had the worst week in the history of rough weeks, so she slipped inside the bar just to take the edge off. The last thing she expected was to meet a really cute guy. He seemed nice, but he had six months worth of problems, and all of them involve him not being here. In which, Percy is in the military, and Annabeth really thinks they have a connection. AU. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is an AU. I got the idea from an AU master post that I saw on tumblr. If you are interested in seeing that post, then go look at my credit page on my blog. **

**I am open to the idea of a sequel for this? Let me know if you think it needs one!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or anything else that you might recognize. Also, I don't know anything about the military and/or the Marines. **

what the heck i'm seriously getting tired of this no line break stuff i don't want to have to go back and edit one into it

_-1022014-_

Annabeth swallowed the rest of her drink and looked around for the bartender. From her seat in the corner, she could see the black haired girl standing at the other end. After a few more seconds Annabeth waved her hand, and the girl nodded and started fixing her another drink.

Her week had sucked. Work had been twice as stressful as normal, and since they were working with a big client, Annabeth's boss was on edge. Just today Annabeth herself had gotten screamed at for an hour because her toe nail polish hadn't matched her outfit. On top of work, her dad had called and said that they would have to reschedule their get together this weekend. Sure, it wasn't his fault that Mia (Annabeth's stepmom) had gotten the flu, but Annabeth had been looking forward to flying out to visit. After that she had planned on going home and not getting out of bed until Monday morning, but when she got to her apartment building she found out that some water pipes had busted and the whole building had flooded. She had been able to grab some things from her apartment before she had to hike over to a hotel with her heels on.

So yeah. She was sitting at the end of the bar with some alcohol. She deserved it.

Just as the bartender was sliding her drink down in front of her, somebody sat down on the stool next to her.

"Well aren't you just a pretty little thing?"

She didn't acknowledge the man, but he kept talking. His voice was really annoying, and Annabeth was considering just leaving, but she wanted to finish her drink at least. He chattered about his job at some stupid law firm that she had never heard of. He was flashing a watch in her direction like it should impress her. The third time that it glinted in her eyes, she was at the breaking point.

Annabeth scowled and swiveled to the side, ready to kick this douche in the balls and send him on his goddamn way. She wasn't about to take this shit and he could suck—

Before she could tell him to go to hell, she felt a light pressure on her lower back and someone else said, "There you are, babe! You aren't going to believe what happened to me at work!"

She turned her head to find a tall man smiling at her. He had already moved his hand from her back, and he was looking at the other man that had claimed the seat beside Annabeth. His black hair was cut short, but it was still sticking up in some places. His green eyes were glinting playfully.

He grinned at the other guy and said, "Hey, man, thanks for saving my seat."

The other guy stared at Annabeth for a second before he sighed and got up, making his way down the bar.

"Hey," the black haired guy said as he sat down.

She scowled at him, and he raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "It looked like you were about to kill that guy. I thought that I would save you from a murder rep and an arrest this weekend."

Annabeth sighed and let her forehead hit the bar. "Thanks," she breathed.

He shrugged and ordered a beer. He was quiet for a few seconds before he looked over at her and said, "Rough day?"

She sat up and laughed slightly, pushing her curls back out of her face, "Rough _week _would be more appropriate."

"Those are the worst."

Annabeth fell silent when the bartender dropped off his drink and hurried back down the bar. She watched as he took a long sip before he shook his hair out.

"Me too," he said suddenly.

"What?" She asked.

"Rough week," he clarified. "I've had one too."

She nodded and paused for half a second before she said, "My name is Annabeth."

He looked over at her, and his grin covered his whole face. He held out his hand, "Hi, Annabeth. I'm Percy."

Ω

"I'm serious!" Percy said.

Annabeth leaned her head against his shoulder and laughed, letting her eyes close. The alcohol was making her brain a little fuzzy, but she was having a really good time. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had laughed and smiled so much.

Percy glanced down at his watch and winced, "It's late."

"Is it?" Annabeth breathed.

He nodded and smiled down at her, "Yeah, we should go."

Before she could ask where they were going to go, she stood up and grabbed his hand. She didn't care if she was being too forward. She didn't care that she never just picked up a guy at a bar and slept with him. She thought that she had made a real connection with Percy, and fuck it if she thought she was just going to walk away.

And hey, if there wasn't a connection, then no string sex would be nice too.

Annabeth tightened her jacket around her shoulders and drew in a breath against the cold air. It cleared her head a little.

Percy stopped walking and pulled her closer to him. He was staring down at her intently, and he pushed one of her curls behind her ear. "My place or yours?"

"We could go to mine, but I'm in a hotel tonight," she said softly, working her way even closer.

"Okay," he murmured.

Annabeth could see the hesitation in his eyes for a split second, "You don't want to?"

Percy shook his head and pulled her against him, "No! I do. It's just…"

"What?" She asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "I think that I really like you, and I would hate to just…"

"You think?"

He rolled his eyes and pinched her hip, "Shut up. It's just… I have to leave tomorrow."

"Leave?" She asked.

"Six month tour," he said. "I'm a Marine."

Annabeth pulled back slightly and looked up at him. She would have _never _pegged Percy as a Military guy, but… now that she thought about it, he kind of looked like he belonged in that world.

"Six months?" She echoed. Her voice sounded oddly empty.

"Yeah," he whispered.

They stood there in silence for a moment. There were several cars on the streets, and there were people walking around them on the sidewalk even though it was considerably late into the night. The wind was blowing softly, and Annabeth wondered if it was too early for snow.

She looked up at him, "Six months isn't that long."

A small smile grew on his face, "You think?"

She nodded and smiled too, "Yeah."

Percy smiled down at the ground in a very adorable way before he took her hand and started to lead the way down the street.

Ω

Percy woke Annabeth up the next morning with a goodbye kiss and a hug. He told her to stay at his apartment for as long as she wanted. He gave her the key. She walked him down to the street in one of his t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants where she gave him another kiss and hug and watched as he got into a cab.

Annabeth downloaded a countdown app onto her phone. She started a timer that would end six months from now.

oh yeah remember how there's not a line break because i do

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review, and don't forget that I have a tumblr now!**

**-SomethingMoreCreative**


	2. Reunions With Tears (And Smiles)

**A/N: I know that I wrote this a long time ago, and you guys have been asking for a sequel for this for a long time. Be warned: I will NOT be writing any more of this universe. I think it ended very nicely now, and I will be moving on to work on other things. I hope you guys like this!**

**Pop over to my tumblr sometime and leave me a message! I would love to hear from you guys about anything! Also, if you want to leave a request, that is the best place to do it. Feel free to leave a request in the reviews, but I probably won't remember that it's there. And I have put up sneak peeks for ****_Taking Control _****(the sequel to ****_Minding Your Business_****) so go over there and look at that. There is a "sneak peek" tag on My Writing page. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****_Percy Jackson and the Olympians_**** or anything else that you may recognize. **

-11162014-

Annabeth knew Percy's mom better than she knew Percy, which was just—really weird. The good news was that she got to learn all about him from the most important person in the world to him.

It started about three weeks after Percy left on his tour. Annabeth had been checking in on his apartment and washing some clothes (his machine worked better than the one that she had in her apartment building) when someone had opened the door and walked in. Annabeth had stood there dumbly, wondering if someone was breaking in when she had been confronted with an older woman with dark hair and kind eyes. They had a silent stare down for a few seconds before the older woman had smiled and said, "You must be Annabeth!"

They had hit it off right away. Sally had explained how Percy had called her from his cab and told her about Annabeth. Sally had also told Annabeth a lot more about Percy, and it was just—really nice.

This whole thing was kind of… weird. It was weird that she met Percy and literally spent one night with him before he had to leave. Even though they had only had a few hours together, Annabeth thought that she really cared about him.

She had never been very good with relationships. There had been a series of crushes and one serious relationship over the past few years, but she had never really just _cared _about someone like she did Percy. And really, she didn't even know him that well. But god, she just _missed _him.

When it got really bad, she would go to his apartment and grab the comforter from his bed before she settled on the couch with her favorite book. Even though she had already slept in it more than a few times, she liked to pretend that it still smelled like him. And she could justify it because his apartment was actually closer to her work. Maybe. Yeah. Whatever.

"I hope his flight wasn't delayed," Sally said suddenly, breaking Annabeth out of her thoughts.

Annabeth nodded, "I don't think it was. Somebody would have said something about it."

They were standing in the airport, waiting for his plane to land. Annabeth had talked to Percy a few times over the last six months, and every time that she did it just made her miss him more. Earlier this week he had managed to call home and let them know when his flight was and what time he would be getting back to New York. He said that he couldn't wait to get home, and he laughed when Annabeth admitted that she couldn't wait either.

Finally, finally, _finally, _Annabeth saw a head of black hair weaving through the crowd toward them. She fought the urge to run toward him, and instead she grasped Sally's hand.

When he spotted them, he stopped.

Percy was wearing his fatigues, and he looked so incredible. Annabeth had always had a thing for guys in uniform, but good _god. _His hair was just as short as the last time she had seen him. His green eyes were sparkling, and his smile was _huge. _

Annabeth was crying, and she couldn't stand it anymore.

Thankfully, Percy started toward her at the same time.

They crashed together somewhere in the middle, limbs flying around one another. Percy was holding her against him tightly, pressing his face into her hair and lifting her up off of the ground. Annabeth had her arms in a death grip around his waist. He was rubbing his hands over her back like he couldn't believe that she was standing there. And really, Annabeth couldn't either.

He was muttering her name and swaying her back and forth, and it was too much. She pulled back just enough so she could see his face and dragged his lips down to hers.

Percy sighed into her mouth, and she grinned against his lips.

"Oh my god, I missed you," he whispered when they broke apart. There were tears in his eyes, and Annabeth swiped them away before they could fall.

"I missed you too," she breathed. It felt like a weight had been removed from her chest with him standing here.

Percy gave her another kiss before he pulled away and looked past her. His eyes widened again when he spotted his mom, and he dragged Annabeth behind him as he ran toward her. She had enough time to catch his duffle bag in her hand before they took off.

Annabeth let go of Percy so he could hug his mom, and he was crying by the time he pulled back. Sally laughed through her tears and pushed him away. Percy's hand found Annabeth's, and his other grasped Sally's.

They walked out of the airport hand in hand, and Annabeth didn't know how anything could be better than this. Percy was home, and he was _here. _That was all that mattered.

All three of them got dinner at a restaurant. Percy actually groaned at the site of his burger, and he explained that he hadn't had real food in a long time. Sally mentioned cooking dinner the following night at her apartment. Percy nodded quickly, and Annabeth found herself agreeing to an invitation when Sally extended one.

Percy kept his arm around her waist once he was finished eating, and he didn't let go until they were climbing out of a cab about a block away from his apartment. They had already dropped his mom off, and Percy had asked the driver to pull over so they would have time to walk.

Annabeth grasped his hand. They talked quietly. Percy asked questions about what she had been doing for the past six months, and Annabeth answered modestly, joking about spending so much time at his apartment. Percy grinned at that information. Annabeth's heart felt like it was going to overflow. There were too many feelings.

As soon as they were in the elevator and headed up to his apartment, Percy dropped his duffel bag to the floor and pulled Annabeth to him and—

She sighed against his lips, and her hands moved to his hair immediately. Percy kissed her desperately. His hands gripped her waist, and she was pressed against him knee-thigh-chest.

He pulled back when the elevator door opened and whispered, "I missed you so much, Annabeth. So, so,_ so much."_

"I know," she whispered, pecking him on the lips again. "I missed you too. Let's go inside?"

He nodded and gripped to duffel bag in one hand, but he didn't let go of Annabeth either. He pressed his face into her neck when she used her key to open the door. They barely made it inside before he was kissing her again.

Annabeth laughed as they fell down onto the couch. She was on top of Percy, and he was grinning up at her, tugging on her neck and shoulders until she laid down on him to kiss him again.

They traded kisses back and forth for a few hours before Percy decided that he wanted to take a shower. Of course he wasn't willing to give up any "Annabeth time," so he dragged her behind him, and hey, Annabeth _definitely _didn't object to that.

After their shower, they stumbled right into Percy's bedroom and climbed into bed. Annabeth fell asleep with her head on Percy's chest, listening to his heartbeat, and even after six months she hadn't forgotten what it sounded like.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review!**

**-SomethingMoreCreative**


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